March 21

Posted on Mar 22, 2021 in Sunday School at HOME |

In the Bible story, Jesus is beginning his journey toward his death. As Jesus comes to terms with the coming days, he is experiencing many emotions. While his disciples sleep—despite Jesus’ instructions to pray—Jesus goes to pray. He is searching for comfort and guidance in the midst of his overwhelming feelings. Sometimes we do not know how to express or understand our emotions. Yet our emotions are trying to teach and tell. When we experience emotions, there are things we can do to help. Jesus teaches us that we can talk to God.

It is important to honor children’s experiences and to allow them to explore difficult topics. In doing so, you can guide children to go to God with what is hard, just like Jesus did. It might not change the outcome or take away something painful that already has happened; however, it can bring comfort to know that God goes with us and is present in the midst of our big emotions. These big emotions are felt even by the littlest children, and it is our job to help them know that God is there to comfort and guide them.

 
 
 
 

Jesus was praying at a time of sadness and uncertainty for him. Jesus showed by example that we can pray to God when we are scared or frightened. Prayer brought Jesus comfort, even though he did not receive the answer he was looking for. We can learn that prayer can happen anytime we are feeling lost or afraid. God will listen.

 


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October 18th

Posted on Oct 10, 2020 in General, Sunday School at HOME |

We learn here that there are always questions about God’s desires for our lives, but in this story, we learn that God always keeps God’s promises. Even when they might be different than anything we could have imagined.
Children need to know this important message. They might have big questions and not always understand what it means to follow God. But when they hear that God promises to go with them, they can find comfort in the midst of a wondrous and sometimes complicated faith.
Click on image for VIDEO
In order to view the Sunday School videos, you may have to set up an Amplify Media account for free and have access to all the videos. The link is here: https://www.sharingtheheart.org/amplify-media/
CRAFT CORNER WITH MS. BECKY
Stars in the Sky
 
Supplies:
Paper plate (or thick paper and a large bowl to trace a circle – I used a paper grocery bag and a piece of thin cardboard and both worked!)
Scissors
Crayons/Markers/etc.
Print out of stars or cut out your own
Glue stick
Hole punch
Small piece of yarn
 
1. If using paper instead of a paper plate, turn a large bowl over onto the paper and trace around the circumference of the bowl. Then cut out circle.
2. Color both sides of your circle (paper plate/paper)
3. If you are using the star print out, color the stars (I colored both sides) 
4. Start on the outside of the circle and cut a spiral to the center of the circle. (You may need a grown-up or sibling to help out.)
5. Cut out stars
6. Glue stars on the circle. (I put some on both sides)
7. Pick up the center of the spiral and make a hole in the middle. Then thread the yarn through to make a hanger for your star spinner.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Spiritual Practice
Exploring faith through God’s promises.
 
 
SHAPE BREATHING:
 
 
Use the shapes to do breathing prayers.
 
When you see shapes, you can do these prayers and remember God’s blessings and promises.

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October 4th Sunday School

Posted on Oct 3, 2020 in Sunday School at HOME |

 
 
Our faith word for this month is faith. The definition we use for faith is “to believe in God’s presence and hope.” This month we will explore faith through God’s promises.
Children can great faith. Children are often filled with hope, and their eagerness can be inspiring. This lesson can help children explore what their faith can be. Such faith can remind us of Abraham and Sarah, and also serves as a reminder that we too can embrace faith in God’s blessings and promises
Genesis 12:1-9 begins our introduction to the story of Abraham. Abraham is old and is asked by God to take a journey. Abraham does not speak in this passage, but God does. This story continues God’s promises to the Israel’s ancestors, including Abraham. God’s promise is a blessing. God will bless Abraham and all of his descendants. In this passage we hear a story of Abraham and his wife, Sarah, accepting God’s call and taking all their things to a new land. They travel through major urban areas in the Canaanite mountains. This area will be the homeland of Israel. Abraham and Sarah’s journey could not have been easy. It was likely very hard. But their willingness to follow God, demonstrates their great faith and hope in the future that God promises them.
Click on image for VIDEO
In order to view the Sunday School videos, you may have to set up an Amplify Media account for free and have access to all the videos. The link is here: https://www.sharingtheheart.org/amplify-media/
CRAFT CORNER WITH MS. BECKY
Supplies:
Plastic lid or shallow bowl
Needle
Safety pin
A magnet (I used a bar magnet from a can opener)
the lid of a plastic milk jug or a piece of cork/styrofoam.
Tape
Some water
 
God told Abraham and Sarah to go where God sent them. Their faith in God gave them the courage to follow Him.  
Geocaching is a fun outdoor activity where you and your family can follow a compass to find ‘caches’. Here are some places to find here in McKinney:
Although, you can’t take this compass adventuring with you. You can make your own compass at home.
Make your magnet by holding the needle in one hand and sliding the magnet along the needle. Lift up the magnet and repeat (you do not want to go back and forth on the needle – slide in one direction). Do this many times. You can make sure that you’ve magnetized your needle by checking to see if it can pick up the safety pin.
 
Pour some water into the bowl
 
Tap the needle on top of your lid or cork. The needle will spin until it points North.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 

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26
Sep '20

September 27th

Posted on Sep 26, 2020 in Sunday School at HOME |

26
Sep '20
As we bring this unit to a close, remind your children that God used creativity to create a world of beauty and a world of wonder. God created the world and everything in it to be connected. No living thing—plant, animal, or person—is more important than another. Encourage your children to create beauty with God in all they do and to always look for beauty in the world around them.
 
Help your children know they are God’s children and that by being named a child of God, they are also responsible for doing God’s work. But, we cannot do it alone. God needs us, and we need one another, to make God’s creative and beautiful world possible. By working together, we can be creative helpers of God.
 
Click on image for VIDEO
In order to view the Sunday School videos, you may have to set up an Amplify Media account for free and have access to all the videos.
 
This week, we’ll focus on the fact that humans need one another and creation needs us. As we interact with the Bible story, we’ll explore ways to care for creation and for one another. We’ll also focus on engaging with God’s creation, as we have throughout this unit of Bible stories.
CRAFT CORNER WITH MS. BECKY
In this week’s story, we learn how God created helpers to take care of the garden. We can be helpers. Let’s make a helping tree to remind us of the garden and how we are helpers!
 
Supplies: Piece of paper, Pencil, Crayons/markers/etc.
(maybe a grown up or older sibling to help trace)
 
 Place your arm on the piece of paper with your fingers spread out.  
Trace your hand and arm onto the piece of paper.
Draw the tree “leaves” around your hand “branches”
Write ways that you can help on each one of the fingers “branches” of your tree.
Color your helping tree! I added some yellow and orange to my tree to remind me that fall is here!
 
In this Bible story, we hear more of the second account of Creation. In this telling, God creates life with complex elements and instructions. There is a continuation of God’s good creation as it flows through rivers in the infamous garden of Eden. God places humans in the garden. This is a part of God’s creative process. God gives a second command to the humans. God asks humans to be co-creators with God to bring forth God’s kingdom. God recognizes that the human is alone. God wants to make a change. God then forms new life. God does not simply create, but God brings to life. To be creative with God can therefore imply—when we create, we bring new life into the world. The next human is then created. This is a continuation of God’s creative work. God is always engaging in creative work. The new human is called, “helper.” God is also often called, “helper.” This reiterates God’s divinity within humanity, and our call to work together, side by side, to care for all of creation

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19
Sep '20

September 20

Posted on Sep 19, 2020 in Sunday School at HOME |

19
Sep '20
When God creates humans, God does so in God’s own image. To be created in the image of God is as if we are mirrors of God in the world. Each of us is a reflection of something greater. We are created to resemble the divine. This is a gift. Everyone has God within, and it is because of this that we are able to embrace our own unique expressions as children of God. Our ability to imagine and be creative is a part of how we are made in the image of God.
  • Wonder with the children about the diversity and beauty of all living things.
  • Wonder why God created all living things so they would work together.
 
 
 
Click on image for VIDEO
 
In order to view the Sunday School videos, you may have to set up an Amplify Media account for free and have access to all the videos.
 
 
 
This Bible story is not only about creation, but also about the creativity God places in each of us. God creates humanity. God then shares the creative process by giving humanity a part of God’s self. “Let us” demonstrates that God is not working alone. God is engaged in relationship of mutuality and shares the creative process with others.
CRAFT CORNER WITH
MS. BECKY
Be “Yourselfie” – God loves you just as you are
God made you just the way you are. You are beautiful, and you are good. 
 
Supplies:
  • Printout 
  • Pencil
  • Crayons, Markers, or Colored Pencils
  • Scissors
  • Glue stick
 
Instructions:
Print the activity sheet (or draw your own on paper)
Draw and color selfies in the rectangles 
Cut the strip of ‘selfies’ along the dashed line (one strip)
Color the phone and phone case, then cut around the dashed line around the front and back of the phone. (see photo for example)
Cut the rectangle out for the “phone screen”. You may need to get your grown up to help you with this step.
Fold the phone in half so the “back” and “front” of the phone meet. 
Glue the phone together at the bottom and the very top however, leave the middle and sides open.
Slide the strip of selfies into your camera and scroll through your pictures.
 
 
 
 
This Bible story helps children come to know their identity as a child of God. It provides a foundation of self-reflection and self-acceptance. To be known and loved by God is one of the most important messages we can teach our children. Help your children see the reflection of God in themselves and how they can use their creativity to help continue to create a beautiful world.

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September 13th Sunday School

Posted on Sep 12, 2020 in Sunday School at HOME |

God created the idea of the world and God made the creation come alive. God saw all that was created as good and beautiful. As people, we often struggle with seeing other people and the natural world as beautiful.
  • What if we saw all people as good and beautiful creations dreamed up and made by God?
  • What if we took the time to examine all aspects of God’s world and find the beauty in every part of God’s creation?
 
 
 
Click on image for VIDEO
 
In order to view the Sunday School videos, you may have to set up an Amplify Media account for free and have access to all the videos.
 
God created us to be creative, and children have a natural ability to use their creativity. To keep their creativity and curiosity active, children need time to explore the world and its beauty. Children can easily enter into a partnership with God. Listen deeply to their ideas for ways to care for and keep God’s creation beautiful.
 
 
 
The creative Creation story continues. The swarming of the living things is a description of how all creatures inhabit the earth. God divides the animals into three categories—sea animals, sky animals, and land animals. God made a diverse population and demonstrated the importance of all things. God knew that each creature would serve a purpose and be a contributing part of creation. God did not just create one thing; God created many
 
CRAFT CORNER WITH MS. BECKY
How creative and wondrous all the living things on Earth are! Once when I was on vacation, I was swimming in the sea and right next to me out of the water flew some tiny, shiny blue flying fish. Those are incredible, a fish that flies out of the water. Now that’s creative!
Let’s get creative, too, by making a craft that reminds us how God created living things like the birds of the sky and the fish in the sea. This week’s craft is inspired by ithappensinablink.com
Supplies
  • a paper plate cut in half
  • a piece of construction paper
  • two pieces of yarn, about 4 inches long each
  • scissors
  • glue
  • crayons or markers
  • Your imagination!
 
One half of your paper plate will be the fish, the other half will be the bird.  Cut a small triangle out of your construction paper to be the beak of the bird. Cut a larger triangle out of your construction paper to be the tail of the fish.
 
You can use crayons, markers, construction paper, or whatever you can find to be CREATIVE and make your bird and fish. I found some mini muffin liners and a glittery heart to make my creations. Send Ms. Cheridy pictures of your creations too! (Optional) Then attach one piece of yarn to the top of the bird to make a loop to hang up your creation, then, use the other piece of yarn to attach the bottom of the bird to the top of the fish. (See photo for details.)

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05
Sep '20

September 6th Sunday School

Posted on Sep 5, 2020 in Sunday School at HOME |

05
Sep '20
 
Celebrate Wonder is a curriculum that honors the spiritual life of children. Celebrate Wonder will engage children in open-ended exploration and inquiry of the Bible. Through experiential activities, spiritual practices, and reflection, Celebrate Wonder serves as a biblical guide to help children make meaning for their lives. This curriculum seeks to deepen children’s faith formation and to create a safe space for children to ask big questions and claim their spiritual identity as children of God. Please visit CokesburyKids.com, where you can find podcasts, training videos, mission information, blog posts, free stuff, and more,
 
In order to view the Sunday School videos, you may have to set up an Amplify Media account for free and have access to all the videos.
God created us to be creative, and children have a natural ability to use their creativity. To keep their creativity and curiosity active, children need time to explore the world and its beauty. Children can easily enter into a partnership with God. Listen deeply to their ideas for ways to care for and keep God’s creation beautiful. 
CREATIVITY-Prepare to Wonder
Our Bible story today comes from the first chapter of the first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis. Genesis contains two accounts of Creation, one in the first chapter and one in the second chapter. Today’s telling is found in the first account and begins with creating light and dark, evening and morning. God made both, the light and the darkness, and each are necessary parts of God’s creation. Light and darkness serve as markers for time. In Genesis 1, the Creation account is divided into days. The repeated phrase, “There was evening and there was morning,” divides the story into seven days. The creation events are reported over six days, plus a final day of rest.
The Genesis stories also give us guidance about the beginning of life. This story sets the stage for all of creation. To create, is God’s act of bringing the world and all of life into being. God knew that the world needed both light and dark to prepare a place for all that was to come. The Bible story mentions the light will be bigger and the darkness smaller. The world is created from a formless void and a great darkness. But, light is a symbol of life. Each day the light pushes away darkness and gives way to a new creation. God gives each a place in space and time and calls it good.
 
We too can bring light into the world. Through our creativity we are an expression of light. God’s light lives within each one of us and reminds us that together we can create God’s world. Children are also incredibly creative and bring so much light into the world. We let their light shine when we encourage their creativity and see it as very good.
CRAFT CORNER WITH MS. BECKY
 
Welcome back to Craft Corner! I hope you all are having a wonderful back-to-school. 
 
As we learn about God’s Creation, it makes me think about how creative teachers, administrators, parents, and students have been! What a wonderful gift of creativity that God gives us. 
Let’s get creative together.
Shaving Cream Earth craft.
 
Supplies
1 – light colored construction paper or paper
1 – dark colored construction paper or paper
Shaving Cream
Blue and Green food coloring
white crayon, chalk or star stickers
glue stick
scissors
something circular to trace (I used a bowl)
craft stick or plastic knife
plastic wrap or craft mat
pencil
 
– Trace bowl on the light piece of paper and cut out circle
– Lay out plastic wrap or craft mat to protect table surface
– Spray some shaving cream on the mat
– Add some blue and green food coloring
– Mix lightly with a craft stick or plastic knife. Don’t overmix.
– Press the circle into the shaving cream.
– Remove the circle from the shaving cream and use the stick/blunt side of knife to scrape off excess shaving cream.
– While the circle dries, use a white crayon, chalk or star stickers to decorate the dark construction paper.
– Glue paper Earth to the dark paper.
     
     
 

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August 23 Sunday School

Posted on Aug 20, 2020 in Sunday School at HOME |

 
A TEMPLE FOR GOD
Today’s Bible story is about the apostle Paul. Everywhere Paul went, he searched for opportunities to preach and share the good news. Paul’s news wasn’t always welcome, however. During Paul’s conversion experience, God told Ananias that Paul would have to suffer and sometimes he did. In this week’s Bible story, we read about one of the multiple times Paul was put in prison.
Paul was thrown into prison for healing a slave woman. While healing a woman sounds like a good thing to do, especially for the woman concerned, the woman’s owners were not pleased. Once the slave woman was healed, they were no longer able to use the woman as a fortune-teller to make money for them. The owners’ indignation with Paul and Silas was mitigated by greed.
The experience of Paul and Silas in prison illustrates Paul’s zealousness in spreading the good news. While Paul and Silas were in prison, they passed their time by singing songs and praising God. There was an earthquake that opened the prison doors and broke their chains. Presented with an opportunity to escape, Paul and Silas instead stayed and witnessed to the jailer.
It might be tempting to applaud Paul’s efforts, then sit back and assume that the work of spreading the good news is done.
However, there are still people today who need to hear this good news–the news that Jesus is alive and that God loves them.
 
 
Paul and Silas were not singing and praising God because they were in jail, but because they believed God was with them in jail. They believed that God was with them in good times and bad times. We believe that God is with us in good and bad times also. It is OK to praise God in the hard times as well as the good.
 
Paul and Silas could see only a part of what God was doing in their situation. They chose to praise God anyway, with surprising results. We, too, can choose to praise God in our dark moments.
 
What difficulty do you face? Pray that God will help you sing praise in difficult times.
 
Fellowship with others and education were central to Paul’s ministry of encouragement and spreading the good news. When we gather together as a community of faith for worship and Sunday school, we are recognizing what Paul knew—that for the church to grow and thrive, people need to meet together and learn about God. When we invite others to join us at church, we are helping spread the good news of Jesus.
 
 

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August 16th Sunday school Lesson- A Temple for God

Posted on Aug 14, 2020 in Sunday School at HOME |

Worship with us this Sunday!
Our lesson on Solomon building the temple and gathering God’s people together for worship reminds us that gathering together to praise and honor God through worship is an important aspect of living as Christians.

We teach our children that God is a personal God. We each can have a personal relationship with God. Each person can talk to God directly whenever and wherever he or she chooses. We also teach our children that God is everywhere. From a very young age, children are told that everywhere they go, God is there too. We believe all of these things to be true, and it is important to teach these lessons to our children. However, there is more to the story. Having a personal relationship with God is essential. It is equally important to experience God in the midst of a community. Worshiping God alongside other people is a necessary element of living as Christians. When we come together as God’s people, we feel God’s presence in a special way. We experience God’s love in and through other people and we allow them the opportunity to experience God through us. As we care for and love each other, and work together to care for and love others, we gain a glimpse of God’s kingdom.

Bible Stories for all ages
Family Faith Activities
Activity Sheets
August 16th Lesson

A TEMPLE FOR GOD
King David’s son, Solomon, became king after King David died. One of the first actions King Solomon took was to build the temple that his father, King David, had always meant to build. The temple took seven years to build. The Bible gives a detailed description of the dimensions and layout of the temple, similar to the description given for the Tabernacle. The temple took a massive workforce and lots of money. King Solomon bartered with Hiram to obtain the items needed to complete the temple. The completion of the temple was marked by fourteen days of celebration.
The temple was known as Solomon’s Temple. It was built to serve as a concrete reminder of God’s presence with the people. The special chest was placed in the inner sanctuary of the temple. Every church that is built serves as a reminder that God is present among God’s people.
Young children are concrete thinkers and may think that God only lived in a temple or church. Be sure to let the children know that God doesn’t live in any one place. God is everywhere and always with us. The temple for the people of Israel is like the church for us. It is a reminder of God’s constant presence and constant love.
God wants us to come into the church for worship and praise. God wants us to remember we are people of God, and gather together at the church to love God and each other. God also wants us to go into the world, outside of the church, and share God’s love with others. God wants us to live our lives in the world faithfully and fully for God.
How do you share God’s love with others in your everyday life?

 


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